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Insomnia can be classified into several different categories including:
difficulty falling asleep (including the inability to fall asleep quickly),
staying asleep, awakening shortly after falling asleep and being unable
to go back to sleep, not sleeping soundly or the inability to sleep
at all.
Insomnia can result
from a number of different causes such as overconsumption of caffeine,
depression (and/or the use of antidepressants), indigestion, muscle
aches, menopausal disorders, stress, anxiety and the use of certain
drugs.
Occasional insomnia
affects most of the population, however when frequent, prolonged insomnia
is present, the lack of sleep can effect brain function.
Traditional Chinese
Medicine classifies insomnia into one of three main categories. Injury
due to emotional excesses can cause insomnia when extreme emotion such
as anger or stress causes liver qi to stagnate and transform into fire.
The fire invade the heart shen and causes mental unrest and sleeplessness.
An improper diet
can also be the reason for insomnia. Overconsumption of greasy or sweet
foods can result in fluid retention and phlegm in the stomach, causing
stomach qi to malfunction and insomnia to result.
Another sleep
disturbance is senility or blood qi deficiency of the heart. Palpation
and insomnia are seen as the result of exhaustion of liver and kidney
essence. If vital essence is prevented from replenishing the heart,
breakdown of the normal physiological coordination between the heart
and the kidneys can occur. These conditions may also result in excess
heart fire or blood qi deficiency in the heart and gallbladder.
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